By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 1, 2012 at 2:41pm CST]
The Padres have agreed to sign Micah Owings to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to Spring Training, Dan Hayes of the North County Times tweets. Legacy Sports Group represents the 29-year-old right-hander.
Owings spent the 2011 season with the Diamondbacks, posting a 3.57 ERA with 6.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 38% ground ball rate in 63 innings. A former starter with the Diamondbacks and Reds, Owings has pitched mostly out of the bullpen since 2010. At the plate, he has nine homers and an impressive .286/.313/.507 batting line in 217 career plate appearances. Kirk Gibson let Owings bat for himself regularly last year and asked him to pinch hit on one other occasion....
SAN DIEGO -- Clinics on pitching and hitting as well as forums for fans and autograph stations will all be a part of Padres FanFest presented by Bloomberg on Feb. 11 at Petco Park.
Fans are advised to arrive at Petco Park as early as possible in order to get their pick of autograph-session vouchers. Those vouchers will be handed out as soon as the gates open between 8:30-9:30 a.m. PT for season-ticket holders.
Early-entry passes for season-ticket holders will be distributed through email. Season-ticket holders are automatically pre-registered to win exclusive FanFest experiences like a special autograph session with former Padres closer Trevor Hoffman and a spot for a child in the hitting or pitching clinic.
The gates open to the general public at 10 a.m. Fans can also pre-register at www.padres.com/FanFest to gain early entry at 9:30 a.m.
Manager Bud Black and shortstop Jason Bartlett will start...
Yonder, as in “off we go into the wild blue . . .,” would seemingly be the perfect name for a slugger.
But when new Padres first baseman Yonder Alonso speaks of hitting, he doesn’t talk in terms of home runs.
“I am not thinking 40 or 50 home runs when I’m thinking about hitting,” Alonso said earlier this week at Petco Park.
“A lot of left-handed hitters and first basemen are thinking home runs,” Alonso continued. “That’s not the type of left-handed hitter I am.
“When I look at Petco Park, I don’t see how far away the fences are. I see a lot of grass. I feel like this ballpark likes the kind of hitter I am.”
A line-drive hitter. A foul line-to-foul line, line-drive hitter.
“First thing with me is put the ball in play,” Alonso continued. “Hit it hard. Level it. I want good at-bats.”
Thinking like that is much of the reason why the Padres preferred Alonso over Anthony Rizzo when deciding their first baseman of the future.
The 22-year-old Rizzo probably has more power in his...
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The San Diego Padres have agreed to terms on a $2,705,000, one-year contract with left-handed pitcher Clayton Richard.
General manager Josh Byrnes made the announcement Monday.
The 28-year-old Richard was 5-9 with a 3.88 ERA and 53 strikeouts over 18 starts in 2011 before undergoing season-ending surgery on his left shoulder on July 29.
Richard is 24-20 with a 3.84 ERA since joining the Padres from the Chicago White Sox in July 2009.
The Padres now have only one arbitration-eligible player remaining in right-handed pitcher Dustin Moseley.
